Friendship on the Rocks with a Twist
by Gwendolyn A. Archer
Summary: This is an elaboration on what could have happened in the episode where Roz and Frasier sleep together. The episode is tittled "The Guilt Trippers" Season 9.


**A/N: **This is my first story. I hope it's good. It was written for the FCG challenge. I had to include: a Crossover, The phrase "there is a bumble bee in my jacket," MA or lower, 3,500, and a song by Phoebe Buffay. Please review! Thanks!

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The television roared with laughter as Phoebe Buffay settled herself on her barstool, "Okay, this is a song that was actually a hit, but the music video people screwed me over. Anyhow, enjoy."

Chandler walked into Central Perk just before Phoebe strummed her first note of "Smelly Cat." He sat on the big orange couch in between Monica and Rachel, "Hey guys and gals what's going on?" He wiggled to get comfortable in his seat which made the two girls slide further away from him. "I have a date later," he bounced up and down with pride.

"That's fantastic, Chandler. With who?" Monica turned in her seat to face Chandler.

"Well, with that girl I scared away with Joey's 'Best Buds' bracelet. She came back in the other day, when I was thankfully not wearing the bracelet, and I walked up to her again and she seemed to have been over that little Mr. T jewelry scare so…I asked her out! Let me tell you how I asked her out, I was smooth. She was sitting right over there," Chandler paused to point at a table that was behind them.

That's when Monica noticed what was on the outside of Chandler's jacket. "Uhm Chandler…"

"Trust me Monica, I was actually really suave this time, let me finish-"

"No Chandler, there is a bee out the outside of your jacket, I think it's about to crawl down the back." Monica and Rachel jumped away, landing in the two chairs that were on each side of the big orange couch.

"Well get it!" Chandler stood up, trying to shake out the bee.

"I can't, I'm allergic to bees!" Monica curled up in the chair hiding herself in her own jacket.

"Yeah it looks like a bumble bee!" Rachel watched Chandler try to shake out the bee.

"You mean there is a bumble bee in my jacket? There is a freaking bumble bee in my jacket!" Chandler threw off his jacket, and beat it on the floor. He began to jump on it in attempts to kill the stranger that made its way into his jacket.

The girls flew to the counter, where Gunther was chuckling at the whole scene. Finally, as it seemed like Chandler was finishing his tap dance, Phoebe's song ended. Central Perk echoed with tiny "golf claps" as she bowed. She rose up and lifted a hand for Chandler, "And a round of applause to Chandler for his amazing interpretive dance. I imagine smelly cat would have been moved."

--

Martin Crane pointed and laughed at his television as all this was going on, "Friends was a really great show, don't you think so Frasier?"

"Honestly, dad I am a little busy setting up for Daphne's party. Can you turn that thing off and help me, they're going to be here any minute." Frasier was placing the cake in the center of the table that was set.

Martin looked around the room that seemed to be already in place for the small party they were having for Daphne, "What did you need me to do?"

"Can you please hang the Happy Birthday banner from the top of the bookcase while I pour some drinks and lay out some other snacks?"

"Oh yeah, make an old man with a bad hip climb a ladder-"

"Forget it dad, you pour the drinks and I'll hang up the banner."

"Good idea, son."

Right as the two got everything in place, Niles followed by Daphne and Mrs. Moon came through the front door. Daphne gasped, "Oh this is so wonderful, thank you so much everyone! Niles did you know about this?

Niles looked down at this feet with a shy boyish grin, "Yes, dear."

"Oh that is so sweet," she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Frasier lifted a glass to her and said, "It's just us family, but I hope you enjoy this quiet little birthday party we have for you. Happy birthday, Daphne."

She turned to Niles with tears in her eyes, "Family."

Niles nodded and took her hand, "Yes dear, our family."

Mrs. Moon grumbled, "Oh Christ, in a couple years it'll be a broken home anyway. That's all you get out of marriage, an empty house, a couple of rotten kids spread out, and an ex-husband that drinks himself into oblivion." She looked over at the crushed look her daughter had on her face. "Oh, but I'll enjoy the grandchildren." She patted her daughter's shoulder and walked over to the cake.

Niles squeezed Daphne's hand, "Don't worry darling, we won't end up like that."

Daphne nodded and tried to smile again, "Of course we won't. She's just upset about daddy and the whole separation. I understand. We've got to be gentle with what we say around her is all."

Frasier walked over to his brother and future sister-in-law handing them a glass of wine each, "Come on, let's have some birthday cake. And Daphne we have a bunch of gifts for you that I think you will enjoy." He led them over to their seats around the table. They enjoyed their cake, even though Mrs. Moon made some horrible comments after Daphne made her wish, they still went on trying to have a fun evening. "Why don't we go ahead and start opening your gifts." Frasier made his way to the kitchen, "Anyone for more wine?"

Niles pulled out Daphne's chair and took her hand to help her out of her seat. He muttered to Frasier of his shoulder, "I don't think you should be getting anymore alcohol this evening." He smiled and nodded and Mrs. Moon, like he wasn't whispering about her. He walked Daphne over to the couch where she sat in the middle, and everyone circled around her.

Frasier brought his present over first, "Why don't you open this one, it's from dad and me."

Daphne opened the gift to reveal a beautiful red journal, "Oh, it's a journal! This is very lovely."

Martin grumbled, "I wanted to get you one of those robotic dogs. You know something you could really use!"

"Well this is lovely all the same. Thank you, Frasier. Thank you Martin." She looked up waiting for the next gift when Roz came through the front door.

"Sorry I'm late, what did I miss?"

"We've already had cake but there is plenty left. We're opening gifts now." Frasier pointed to a seat Roz could take beside the disgruntled Mrs. Moon.

"Oh fantastic! Here's mine." Roz handed Daphne a medium sized gift bag.

"Great! Thank you, Roz." Daphne opened the bag a pulled out a small black lace lingerie piece.

"It's black lace. Roger thought it was sexy, but he never got to see me in it. Not that, just black lace. No, no that one is for you." Roz nodded at Daphne to reassure her.

Niles rubbed Daphne's back, "We love it, thank you Roz." Everyone chuckle as Niles went to get his gift for Daphne. He handed her a small mahogany box that had a small ribbon tied into a bow.

Daphne gasped when she opened the box and found two tickets to a wonderful Hawaiian vacation. "Oh Niles, this is going to be amazing."

Niles pointed at the brochure and began to tell about all things he had planned for them to do.

"Roger and I were going to go on a vacation." Roz said trying to smile a little.

"Did a man break your heart, sweetie?" Mrs. Moon looked a little concerned.

"No, well, yeah. Actually, no it's okay, I'll get over it."

"That's just typical of a man. Stomping on your heart, never letting you know what you did wrong, and then just leaving forever. Just become a lesbian, that way you can blame all your problems on PMS."

Daphne gasped, "Mother!"

Roz shook her head, "No, it's okay Daphne. Mrs. Moon, I don't think I can do that. Women lack something I'm quite fond of."

Frasier stood, "Well, Roz, why don't we get you some cake while Niles finishes telling Daphne about their trip."

Niles grabbed Frasier's sleeve as soon as Roz headed for the kitchen, "Thank you."

Frasier went into the kitchen to get an extra plate for Roz, "Are you okay, Roz?"

She forced a smile and squeezed Frasier's arm, "Of course I'll be okay."

Frasier put the plate down and faced her, now with his hands on her arms, "No, I didn't ask if you will be okay."

Roz smiled, "Eventually, it'll be okay again."

Frasier gave her a hug and escorted her to the dining table, where he cut her a piece of cake. Birthday festivities went on for a few more hours. Roz began to lighten up, but Mrs. Moon still cursed love and birthdays. As it got closer to midnight, everyone headed home and Martin went to bed.

"I loaded the dish washer for you, Frasier." Roz came out of the kitchen, "Do you want me to run the vacuum cleaner. It'll only take a few minutes."

Frasier put down the decorations he was collecting, "You don't want to go home, do you?"

"Not really. Alice is at her grandmother's so I'll be going home to an empty house. It's just hard to face when you feel so alone."

"I know. Why don't you just sit here on the couch with me and we will shoot the breeze until you feel comfortable."

"I'd really like that Frasier, thank you."

Frasier smiled and poured two glasses of wine. He handed her a glass, "What's bothering you?"

"Well, I have to go home this weekend to see my family. A big Doyle family reunion. Roger was supposed to go with me and I've been bragging to my critical sister about how amazing my new boyfriend is. Now that'll I'll be showing up alone…oh Frasier, they already think I'm a loser."

"You're not a loser, Roz."

"I know that, but my family thinks I am. My sister is going to say something like 'Oh, Roz made up yet another boyfriend.'"

"Would you like for me to go with you? I know I'm not Roger, but I can be your escort."

"You don't have to do that."

"No, no, I want to. It's not trouble at all really."

"Frasier that would be so wonderful, thank you." Roz sighed, "Why does dating have to be so hard?"

"I don't know. I thought it would get easier as I got older, but I guess since I didn't really date till I got to college I have a lot of lost mistakes to make up for."

"But I've been dating since…well for a long time, and I'm still alone."

Frasier placed his hand on her thigh, "You're not really alone. You're welcome here anytime."

"Thank you Frasier." She smiled and placed her hand on top of his.

"Let's talk about something else. Tell me, how is Alice doing in her first year of school."

The two of the sat on the couch as the hours flew by. They talked about dating again, then work, back to dating, then Freddy and Lilith, then back to dating. The subject always came up, but it seemed to be what Roz wanted to talk about, so Frasier knew when just to bring something up, and knew when to change the subject again. Luckily, as they drank more glasses of wine, Frasier some how got Roz to laugh again.

"I'm going to get another bottle of wine, my dear. That second bottle we had was delicious, and I think I have another one in my cabinet." Frasier stood up and walked to his wine cabinet. "Or would you rather have something a little more dangerous, say…a glass of Brandy. I have this wonderful bottle that was given to me as a gift some years back that I think I would open on a night such as this. It was given to me by an actor. I had told him that I had been to every show they were in simply because they were the lead, so that meant it was worth seeing. He was an opera actor of course, I'm not sure if you would have heard of him." Frasier poured two shallow glasses of his aged Brandy, and carried them into the living room where he found Roz asleep on the couch. He smiled and put the glasses down on the table. He walked over to Roz and picked her up, and carried her to his room. On the way there her eyes fluttered, "You can have my room for the night and I will sleep on the couch." Roz closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.

He placed her carefully on his bed. Pulling the covers over her, he gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. Her eyes fluttered again, and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. She placed her hand on his other cheek, and kissed his lips. Frasier lifted his head for a second. She opened her eyes and looked into his, with her hand still on his cheek. His eyes darted around, looking at all her features. Her high cheek bones, he bent down to kiss each. Her big brown eyes that were at this moment clouded with sleep and wine, he bent down and softly kissed each. Her top lip with the smooth arch and the bottom lip that was plump and tinted from the wine, he bent down and kissed each. He lifted his head again. This was Roz. The girl that he had almost slept with countless of times, but worries of it ruining their friendship had stopped them. She kissed his lips. The stale taste of wine from her kiss made Frasier stop. If she was drunk, Frasier didn't want to take advantage of her. But if she was just a little giddy, then what was wrong with taking it a little further, as long as it didn't get out of hand. She pulled him down by his shirt for another kiss. Obviously, she wanted to go further too.

Frasier threw one of his legs over her body to lie on the other side of her. She stopped him while he was on top of her. Her eyes were open wider now. Not clouded with sleep, or wine. She slid her hands up his shirt, to rub his chest. She slid them higher and higher, forcing Frasier to take off his shirt. She pulled on his arms to bend down and kiss her again.

Articles of clothing were removed by each other one at a time, except for Roz's skirt. Frasier glided his hands up her smooth legs, lifting her skirt to above her hips. He looked down into her eyes again, looking for any signals of going further. He pressed his fingertips into her hips, and pulled her closer to him. Roz bit her bottom lip, and arched her back. It was his signal.

--

The next morning they were lying together in a spooning position, with Frasier holding Roz close. Roz awoke and quickly realized what the two had done the night before. She remembered most of it, except for a couple of moments that she thought to have been erased by the two bottles of wine. Frasier woke up a couple seconds after she did, but didn't stir. He watched her attempt to sneak out of bed, to get dressed. "Morning," Frasier rolled over to watch her escape attempt.

"Morning," she was surprised that he was awake. She got dressed quickly, in the bathroom without stopping to freshen up.

Frasier got out of bed and put on a robe, "Can we talk about this."

"There's nothing really to talk about, Frasier. And I have to go…so if you want to talk, maybe some other time."

"I think it would be best to talk about something like this now."

"No, no, I really need to go." She headed toward the front door.

"At least let me walk to you." He followed her to the door, "Can we have dinner later?"

"Oh yeah sure, dinner. That would be great! So, let's talk about all this then, okay?" She pulled the front door open, "We didn't sleep together all those times because we thought it would ruin our friendship."

"I know."

"Do you think it will now?"

"Not at all."

They heard Martin stirring around in the kitchen, so Roz fled out the door. Martin came in with a serving tray that had two mugs and a coffee pot, "Hey have you read the paper?"

"No dad, I haven't."

"It's got an interesting article on how Roz's purse and two full cups of Brandy spent the night on the table."

"Oh dad, please. It's a sensitive subject. She's really upset right now. I don't know what I have done, this could ruin our friendship. I don't know if I should call her."

Just then the phone rang and Frasier answered, "Hello? Roz, I was just about to call you. Oh I see. Well, be careful then." He hung up the phone and looked at his father, "She's fleeing the state. She's going to her family reunion early."


End file.
